Corporations and other organizations generally employ purchasing agents to procure supplies, such as paper and janitorial products. Often these supplies are procured from several different vendors and by several different purchasing agents. For example, an organization with facilities in different locations may have a purchasing agent in each locale buying products from different vendors at different prices. This can result in the payment of disparate amounts for the same items, or the loss of quantity discounts because the different purchasing agents did not realize that they were each buying the same goods.
In addition to paying different prices for the same products, purchasing agents often order quantities of particular products on a regular basis without regard as to changes in the usage of that product. This can result in an over abundance, or conversely, a shortage of the product. Moreover, personnel responsible for procurement may not be aware of alternative products directed to the same purpose but being sold at a reduced price.
The procurement process required by a corporation or other organization needed to meet the organization's total procurement requirements must address such issues as:                goods and services to be purchased;        the frequency of usage of the goods;        the number of suppliers;        shipping costs and miscellaneous costs;        changing requirements and specifications;        new and updated requirements and goods;        costs of the goods;        number of invoices received;        number of purchase orders issued;        number of checks sent out;        number of requisitions reviewed; and        number of items received at the dock.Often management is unaware of the number of personnel involved throughout the organization to meet these issues. This can lead to an inefficient procurement process with an inordinate number of steps involved.        
In general, to order supplies for an organization, a purchasing agent manually produces a purchase order form indicating what is being acquired and from whom. This form is reviewed and approved by the agent's supervisor, and then forwarded to the appropriate vendor. This can be time consuming and generates a great deal of paperwork.
Another difficulty sometimes encountered occurs where different products for the same purpose are ordered by different agents from different vendors without the supervisor realizing it. This can result in increased cost and inventory. Accordingly, there is a current need whereby a supervisor can specify products to be-purchased and is alerted when an attempt is made to substitute a different product. In addition, the system should apprise the supervisor as well as the agent, concerning, quantities ordered to date, and quantities ordered in the past.
Another problem associated with purchasing departments is that it is difficult and time consuming to maintain current accounts receivable summaries, order histories and procurement requirements. Yet another difficulty occurs when a purchasing agent is not aware, or made aware that a particular product is in short supply and should be reordered. This can result in an organization being bereft of the item at a time when it is needed.
Recently, the advent of e-commerce has made purchasing via the internet popular. To accomplish this, a prospective buyer (user) accesses a web site and selects from the products offered by the host of that site. The site does not typically provide the user with historical data on past purchases, nor does the site restrict the user to purchasing only preferred items. Moreover, a prospective user has no control over any customization of a web site. This is because web sites are not based on the user's total procurement requirements identified at the prospective user's facility, e.g., by an inventory of the user's facility, by an audit of the user's procurement records or by querying the user's personnel involved with the procurement process.
Based on the foregoing, it is the general object of the present invention to provide an ordering method that overcomes the difficulties and drawbacks of prior art systems.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a product ordering method that is electronic in nature, accessible via the internet, and is customizable to the unique needs of a particular user's procurement process.